Solomon
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down from heaven, and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices:
and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not
enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had
filled the Lord’s house. And when all the children of Israel saw how
the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they
bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement,
and worshiped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his
mercy endureth forever.”
Seven days was Solomon engaged in the dedication of the house
of God. And after the ceremonies were ended of dedicating the house,
“The Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication
that thou hast made before me. I have hallowed this house which thou
hast built, to put my name there forever; and mine eyes and mine heart
shall be there perpetually. And if thou wilt walk before me as David,
thy father, walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do
according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes
and my judgments, then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom
upon Israel forever, as I promised to David, thy father, saying, There
shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall at
all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep
my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but
go and serve other gods, and worship them, then will I cut off Israel
out of the land which I have given them, and this house which I have
hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and Israel shall be a
proverb and a by-word among all people.”
If Israel remained faithful and true to God, this glorious building
was to stand forever, as a perpetual sign of God’s especial favor to his
chosen people. They were called peculiar, because they alone, among
all the nations of earth, preserved the true worship of God, by keeping
his commandments.
While Solomon remained pure, God was with him. In the ded-
ication of the temple he exalts God’s law before the people. While
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blessing the people he repeats these words: “The Lord our God be
with us, as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us, nor forsake
us; that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways,
and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments,
which he commanded our fathers.”